High-Def Cables Get Smarter

businessweek.com ^ | May 28, 2009 | Cliff Edwards

[Las Vegas Dave]

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[Las Vegas Dave]

Pinging the HDTV list.. HDTV pings!

[djf]

I can’t take any of this seriously.

Everybody seems happy these days listening to music on ear pods and staring at who knows what, maybe nips on a two inch diagonal Blackberry or whatever.

I grew up (or so I contend) during the rock era, during the time when HiFi was a complete obsession.

JBL, Marantz, Klipsch, these guys set the standard. It truly is stunning to sit in front of a well configured stereo system that has a couple hundred watts under the sheets (I have 330 WPC pushing the original Polk SDS-SRS’s and will soon have about 550).

Anyways, just ranting...

;-)

[djf]

Anyways I shouldn’t be beating up on HDTV for this...
UKnowWhutIMean...

[lentulusgracchus]

You notice, though, that they haven't backed off even an inch from the old "let's drive sales with upgrades" game, deliberately obsoleting as much expensive equipment as possible as often as possible.

Wonder how long HDMI 1.4 will last? They're practically telling you they're going to obsolete it out from under you just like analog TV. "Oh, sorry, nobody broadcasts that standard any more ....."

[djf]

Well, except for CD’s, I’ve tried to stay analog. I’m forced into digital for TV, but I can live with that.

I have an old AKAI 7.5 IPS R2R, and if I record a CD to it and play it back, it actually sounds better. Something about smoothing out the signal I guess, gives it a warmer, less bright and harsh sound.

To each his own, right?

[Dallas59]

Data-intensive 3-D television? Tell me more....

[Michigan Bowhunter]

I install DirecTV systems and I wish everybody had the most current standard. It is a nightmare for people to hook up a system when they have optical cable, component, composite, hdmi, coax, and now HDMI1.4

You can imagine how frustrated people are when they try to hook up their systems and then figure out what input to use their equipment on.

[R. Scott]

Users need only one cable instead of two or more required of older analog TV sets.

Must be some really old sets.
I have two old analog sets. When I was using COX cable I connected with one co-ax cable. Last year residents were forced to switch to Mosaic Communications (someone in management owns stock?). They delivered the new crappy converter boxes - I had to buy adapters to connect the three cables to my TV.
By the way, I quickly discovered I preferred cable to satellite - when it rains I lose the signal.

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

Try listening to songs on a good media player with earphones like these:

I use it on this player:

Pure aural nirvana. On the go.

[Vinnie]

Ah, the good old days.
Marantz
Ampex R2R

(can’t remember the name of the British speakers, the best)

[TomGuy]

Wonder how long HDMI 1.4 will last? They're practically telling you they're going to obsolete it out from under you just like analog TV.

It sounds like the HDMI 1.4 is to HDTVs what USB is to PCs.

USB has become the new connection standard for peripherals (try to find a new product that connects via parallel, serial, etc.) USB is great for connecting peripherals. Just plug and play. And most USB peripherals are 'hot swappable', meaning that they work almost immediately so you don't have to reboot to get them to work.

[meyer]

I generally like what I hear through my IPhone and decent earphones, but I sincerely love to feel the bass through a great woofer or sub-woofer. Most "hi-fi" systems of today are weak or completely miss the lowest octave.

[Dallas59]

I have a set of Philips gear..
LCD TV

DVD Recorder

Surround System



Plus a DirecTV HD box and Computer HDMI connected..
The amount of wiring used to hook everything up is atrocious.

[dljordan]

“Everybody seems happy these days listening to music on ear pods and staring at who knows what, maybe nips on a two inch diagonal Blackberry or whatever.”

My wife bought me an IPOD Shuffle for Christmas and I love it. Now I can listen to podcast lectures and stories while I’m working on equipment. My young co-workers joke about my choice of media and are always offering to download some music for me but the current trends in music don’t interest me much being an old rocker.

[wally_bert]

Speaking of vintage Ampex, give me my AVR2 Quadraplex 2 Inch VTR.

[Erasmus]

I remember the JBL Paragon dominating the showroom where I worked. I used to tell customers you could just about set paper on fire in front of the 075 ring radiator.

[Erasmus]

Wharfedale? Goodmans? Tannoy? Quad?

[Erasmus]

((The 075 ring radiator was the tweeter in some other JBLs in the showroom, not the Paragon.))

[Vinnie]

Wharfdale. Thanks!